Hi Dan, George & Rehd,

I think that if you are using a tack cloth in the manner described you are in fact MIS-USING the tack cloth.

A tack cloth is designed to remove the last couple of dust specks from the surface immediately prior to finishing. They are used after the surface has been blown/wiped down, solvent washed, blown/wiped again and ready to finish.

Anything else is a mis-use.

To use a tack cloth as the initial dust removal step or as a substitute for a a solvent wash will do nothing to add to the quality of the finished product.

A tack cloth should be opened and it's layers seperated to give a soft puffy mass which is then lightly dragged over the surface in one direction only.

In truth, a tack cloth is the only way to remove the final particles of dust without reintroducing a larger number of particles but it deals with less than a 10th of one percent of the dust that is on a finish when the procedure starts.

My opinion of course,

Ian